November 07, 2012

Minnesota Voters Support Traditional Marriage; Send Message to Legislature about Making Marriage Available to All

Minnesota lawyers worked hard to make Minnesota’s “Vote No” campaign a success, particularly Dale Carpenter of the University of Minnesota Law School who devoted hours to the campaign and efforts with local Republicans. Another key supporter of “Vote NO” was Mark Osler of the University of St. Thomas School of Law who explained in op-eds, blog postings, and interviews how the proposed amendment would violate both Constitutional principles and Christian values.

Perhaps the most important person in the “Vote No” campaign was not a lawyer, but a soldier named John Kriesel. Kriesel lost both his legs fighting for freedom in Iraq and then as a Republican member of the Minnesota House of Representatives gave an impassioned speech against the proposed amendment’s infringement of the very freedoms he had fought for:

This is the first such amendment in the Country that has failed with the voters.

The issue now passes to the state legislature where the same groups that lobbied for the failed “marriage amendment” will lobby against any changes in Minnesota’s marriage laws. Republicans and Democrats will be on both sides of that debate as well, although John Kriesel unfortunately will not be there. He decided not to run again earlier this year.

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Minnesota Voters Support Traditional Marriage; Send Message to Legislature about Making Marriage Available to All

Minnesota lawyers worked hard to make Minnesota’s “Vote No” campaign a success, particularly Dale Carpenter of the University of Minnesota Law School who devoted hours to the campaign and efforts with local Republicans. Another key supporter of “Vote NO” was Mark Osler of the University of St. Thomas School of Law who explained in op-eds, blog postings, and interviews how the proposed amendment would violate both Constitutional principles and Christian values.

Perhaps the most important person in the “Vote No” campaign was not a lawyer, but a soldier named John Kriesel. Kriesel lost both his legs fighting for freedom in Iraq and then as a Republican member of the Minnesota House of Representatives gave an impassioned speech against the proposed amendment’s infringement of the very freedoms he had fought for:

This is the first such amendment in the Country that has failed with the voters.

The issue now passes to the state legislature where the same groups that lobbied for the failed “marriage amendment” will lobby against any changes in Minnesota’s marriage laws. Republicans and Democrats will be on both sides of that debate as well, although John Kriesel unfortunately will not be there. He decided not to run again earlier this year.